MORAGA, California – Colbey Ross scored 22 points but the Pepperdine men's basketball team couldn't pull off a season sweep of Saint Mary's as the Gaels posted a 72-65 home West Coast Conference win on Saturday night.
 
After falling behind 33-20 at halftime, the Waves (12-15, 5-8) more than doubled their output in the second half and made a game of it late before the Gaels (17-10, 8-4) could post the victory.
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) reached the 20-point mark for the 13th time this season. He also had five assists and went 7-for-8 from the foul line and 3-for-5 from distance.
• Sophomore guard Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS), who missed Thursday's game due to injury, came back to post 13 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
• Freshman forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had 12 points and nine rebounds.
• Senior forward Darnell Dunn (Kinston, N.C./Kinston HS/Miami Dade JC) sank three three-pointers and scored 11 points.
• Freshman guard/forward Andre Ball (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills HS) was the only other Wave to score and he finished with seven points.

KEY STATS

• Overall shooting totals were almost identical: SMC was 22-for-48 (45.8%), Pepperdine was 22-for-49 (44.9%).
• But the Gaels went 10-for-23 from three to the Waves' 8-for-21, and SMC went 18-for-24 from the foul line, compared to 13-for-14 by Pepperdine.
• Pepperdine forced 11 turnovers while only committing nine and had an 11-6 edge in points off turnovers.
• SMC had a 34-25 rebounding edge.
• Saint Mary's got 25 points from Malik Fitts and 20 points from Jordan Ford.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The two teams were locked in a defensive struggle early. The Gaels went ahead 16-11 with eight minutes left in the half, but the Waves came back with a 7-0 run – a three-pointer by Ross, a lay-up by Dunn and a basket by Edwards – to put the Waves ahead 18-16 with 5 1/2 minutes left.
 
But SMC's Fitts scored the next seven points, and the Gaels finished off the half on a 17-2 run to go into the break with a 33-20 lead.
 
At 37-25, the Waves went on a nice 8-0 run, with a three-pointer by Smith, a basket by Edwards and a three-pointer by Ross – cutting the deficit to four at 37-33 with just under 16 minutes to play. But SMC's Tommy Kuhse came back with a pair of three-pointers, and SMC pushed the run to 12-3 to go back up by double-digits at 49-36. The Gaels' largest lead was 16 at 60-44 and 62-46.
 
But the Waves made things interesting down the stretch. At 64-50, Ball hit a three-pointer with 3:21 left, and then Ross made three free throws with 2:13 to go, getting it back to eight with 64-56 left.
 
A Dunn three-pointer made it a seven-point game at 66-59 with under two minutes to play, though almost immediately after that an injured Ross was helped off the court, and he did not return. The Waves had a couple of shots to get it down to five, but couldn't connect.
 
Later, a basket by Smith made it a six-point game at 67-61 with 27.6 seconds left, but the Waves would get no closer.
 
NOTABLES

• Junior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS), the team's second-leading scorer and top rebounder, missed his 12th game of the season. He injured his left foot at the end of last Saturday's San Diego game and is out indefinitely.
• The Waves' 20 first-half points were their fewest in a half this season.
• Pepperdine defeated Saint Mary's in Firestone Fieldhouse, 84-77 in overtime, on January 26.
• Ross moved up to seventh place on Pepperdine's all-time assist list and he now has 376. He also moved up to a tie for third on the single-season assist list with 197, and took sole possession of second on the free throws made list with 187.

UP NEXT
 
The Waves play their final regular-season road game at #3 Gonzaga on Thursday (Feb. 21) at 6 p.m. There will be an audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein.